WATCH: The first ever batch of 8 women dog handlers of ITBP train with K9 pups

New Delhi, Jun 03: In a first, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) has inducted a batch of eight women personnel who will be the first among the central paramilitary forces to be trained as handlers for canine squads deployed in various security theatres, including anti-Naxal operations.

The first batch of 8 women dog handlers of ITBP train K9 pups: Spark, Axl, Juli, Charlie, Rony, Anny, Merry, and Tuffy at the National Training Centre for Dog in Bhanu, Panchkula

The selected women Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel are in the rank of constable and belong to the 'animal transport' cadre of the mountain-warfare trained force that was raised in the wake of the 1962 Chinese aggression along India's eastern front.

The force is primarily tasked to guard the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, apart from rendering a variety of duties in the internal security domain like conducting anti-Maoist operations and carrying out anti-sabotage checks during high-profile events and VVIP visits.

The eight women are part of a 25 personnel team who will join training in the last week of this month at the ITBP-run National Training Centre for Dogs (NTCD) in the Bhanu area in Haryana's Panchkula.

This initial course will be followed by another three months of a 'tactical obedience course' and the final leg would be to undergo three to four months of 'dual purpose dogs' or PEDD (patrol and explosive detection dogs) training.

The ITBP also has the credit to be the first security force in the country to have inducted the Malinois breed of dogs, a litter of an Israeli male Malinois crossed with an American bitch, in 2009.

The coarser looking breed is the most preferred by security forces for infantry patrol duties and commando operations because of its ability to perform and deliver good results in challenging, difficult terrain and harsh climate areas.